Hanley Ramirez jogged to the top of the dugout steps, flashed a pearly white smile and tipped his cap to an adoring Fenway Park crowd that had called for him.
It’s a scene that may have seemed unfathomable a year ago, but Ramirez deserved every one of the cheers from the curtain call.
He capped off a torrid series against the New York Yankees with a two-homer, four-RBI performance that lifted the Red Sox past their archrivals, 5-4. The win completed the first four-game sweep of the Yanks since 1990 and ensured the Red Sox’ lead in the AL East stayed at three games.